One Little Adventure
by HallowRain8587
Summary: In 2001, the wizarding world has settled down into its post-war doldrums. What kind of adventure will be lurking for our favorite class of 1998 and their parents and children? AU/OoC/EWE. Rated T for language and mentions of violence.
1. Prologue

**One Little Adventure**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Harry Potter stories or characters although I am letting them play in my universe.  
**

 **Prologue** :

The war had been over and Narcissa Black Malfoy had been set free but would not be allowed international travel. She was no longer filthy rich, she was merely rich and consequently had to move from Malfoy Manor to Blackthorn Cottage. Now if you know what the cottages in the Hampdens of the United States are, you would know that she was not living in a two bedroom bungalow. This was similar. Today she had been reading the latest drivel that was published in _Witch Weekly_ and was decidedly bored. With no husband at home, Lucius was serving his life sentence in Azkaban, she found there were considerably fewer visitors, both wanted and unwanted. With a sigh, she finished her breakfast tea and put down the tabloid. She snapped her fingers to call her house elf.

"Mitzie, I am going to the Library to write a letter. Please come get it so Athena can take it in half an hour."

"Yes, Missus."

/

She wrote it six times before deciding that simple and straight forward would be best.

"Dear Andromeda,

I wish to apologize in person and would like to visit with you.

Your sister, NBM"

/

Andromeda Tonks was finishing giving her orphaned grandson, Teddy Lupin, his morning bath. He always seemed to get more food on him than in his belly, so she bathed him after his morning meal.

"Owl birdie, Gran Andi," the toddler said pointing at a beautiful white owl that was patiently sitting on the perch outside the window.

She removed the tot from the bath and wrapped him in a large fluffy towel before carrying him over to open the window for the owl to enter. "You are certainly an elegant fellow," Andromeda spoke quietly to the bird as she untied the letter that was attached to his leg with her free hand. She noticed that it was waiting for an answer, so she told it to help itself to the treats and water near the perch and she would be back shortly with a reply. The haughty bird moved off as though it were looking down its aristocratic nose on sharing space with Andromeda's owl but didn't ignore the treats.

Andromeda carefully opened the letter and read the single sentence as she balanced the towel-wrapped boy on her knee. "No, Teddy, this is for Gran Andi," she said as he reached a chubby little hand for the letter. She was still cuddling Teddy and staring at the note when Harry Potter stepped through the floo.

"Is Teddy not ready for his outing?" Harry asked. Then he noticed the strange tableau, "What's wrong, Andromeda?"

"Read this," she answered handing him the note. Then she rose and took Teddy to the bedroom to dress him for the day.

Harry was still sitting on the sofa looking at the note when she returned followed by Teddy dressed for play in coveralls, a T-shirt and a pair of muggle trainers that had lights that blinked with every step the little one took as he ran up to his godfather. "Play on swings or play on brooms?" Teddy asked.

"Tell her you will meet her some place in muggle London where there are lots of people around. Maybe even tell her you will bring Teddy," Harry said evenly.

"Will you come, too?"

"Do you think it is wise?"

"It would be wise to have someone else to keep an eye on Teddy if he got bored." Harry chuckled.

"How about Thursday? We could make a reservation for that new tea room near White Hall. It would be elegant enough to impress Narcissa, yet relaxed enough for tea with a toddler at that time of day, even one that is as well behaved as Teddy is."

"Yes, I can come, but are you certain you don't want to bring Hermione instead? She's the godmother."

"Harry, you cannot think that she would skip classes. She is so busy trying to get her degree in accounting. She is just not happy keeping books for the Twins WWW, she wants to perfect her craft and then open an agency to keep books for various muggle and wizard businesses."

"No, you're right. Hey, Teddy are you ready for the swings?" He picked up the small boy, whose hair changed to black as he exited with his godfather through the floo.

/

" _Dear Narcissa,_

 _Yes, we must talk. Would you meet me for tea at the Newtown Tea Room at 4 o'clock on Thursday? I will be bringing a young gentleman to meet you along with his godfather if you agree to meet me there._

 _ABT"_

Narcissa read the note twice then called Mitzie. "Is Draco still at home, Mitzie?"

"Yes, Missus Narcissa."

"Please ask him to join me here before he leaves for work."

"Yes, Missus."

Minutes later Draco entered the room with his traveling cloak over his arm and dressed in an expensive, charcoal gray, tailored Italian suit and shiny black dress shoes. He had taken over the management of Malfoy Industries after his father had been sent to Azkaban. He was struggling to keep a prosperous front, yet moving the business from the nefarious.

"You wanted a word with me, Mother," Draco stated rather than asked. He then gave her a kiss on her offered cheek before sitting down across from her at the desk. "I have about ten minutes before I need to be in the office."

"Yes, Draco." Narcissa looked at her son with pride. He had grown into a fine young man and taken the reigns of the family businesses with a gusto that his father never had. "Your tie is crooked." She reached across to straighten it, then she continued, "I received this reply to a note I sent my sister."

"I didn't know you could owl the dead," Draco joked with a straight face.

"No, not that sister. This is the one that was just dead to us," Narcissa replied with exasperation in her voice.

"I was just kidding, Mother," Draco answered. "What did she say?"

"Here," she said, handing him the note, "what do you think?"

After reading the note he replied, "Tell her you will also bring a 'young man' for her to meet and his godfather."

"And how are you going to get Severus to agree?" the blonde witch asked.

"He will do it if I ask nicely."

/

"Dear Andi,

I will meet you at the Newtown Tea Room at 4 o'clock and will be bringing a young man for you to meet as well, along with his godfather to remove him if he gets too bored with our company. I assume you will make the reservation.

Cissy."

/

" _Narcissa,_

 _I have made a reservation for six at 4 o'clock on Thursday._

 _Andromeda"_


	2. It is a Puzzle

**Disclaimer: As always I don't own or profit from H. its universe. J. is its owner.**

 **It is a Puzzle**

Severus Snape sat in his dark green, winged-back chair thinking about the "tea" he had attended with the remaining "Black" descendants. He held a clear, lead-crystal brandy snifter in one hand and a thin cheroot in the other. The former was emptying gradually as he contemplated; the latter was unlit and only a prop because he no longer smoked. He found the scent of the cherry tobacco conducive to relaxation and thinking and did not need the nicotine from smoking. That damned snake had made it painful to smoke. "What a drastic way to quit cold turkey!" he thought. He had some scarring, but not nearly what it would have been if he had not been administered the anti-venom so quickly. Then transported to Blackthorn Cottage for healing by none other than the busy-body-know-it-all of Gryffindor and the Malfoy matriarch. Later he had found that they had returned to the battle after summoning a house-elf with healing skills to watch him because neither of the ladies could be missing from the castle grounds for very long without arousing suspicions.

"Harry Potter descendant of Charlus Potter and Dorea Black and Sirius Black's heir, thus the heir to the Noble and Ancient house of Black, had grown into a tolerable young man. His bright green eyes and messy black hair inherited from his parents had become less a reflection of them and more his own. He was a good Auror and equally good godfather to Teddy Lupin."

"Draco Malfoy descendant of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black and his own godson was becoming quite his own man. He had taken his N.E.W.T.s and then gone to business school. Some fancy spell work had been done to obtain a transcript, but he had been admitted to the MBA program straight from Hogwarts and excelled. Malfoy Industries were doing well, thanks to his hard work, ingenuity, and contacts with the muggle entrepreneurs that he had become acquainted with while getting his degree."

"Teddy Lupin descendant of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks was grandson to Andromeda Black Tonks. The tyke was a Metamorphmagus like his mother had been, but his grandmother had fixed his appearance to include light brown hair and hazel eyes for the venture into the muggle world. He was smart like his father and would probably sort to Ravenclaw if not prompted to something else when he went to Hogwarts."

"Andromeda Black Tonks, sister to Narcissa and the late Bellatrix LeStrange, was ironically the black sheep of the family since she had chosen to marry a muggleborn wizard. Ted Tonks had straddled the line between the muggle and wizard world. With Andromeda as his wife he had remained out of the wizard spotlight though he was well known in the muggle world as a news presenter on the telly. Andromeda was still beautiful with her dark brown hair shot through with wisps of silver hair that made it shine when the light hit it. In her earlier days she had looked more like Bella, but as she aged she was more her own person. Her arresting grey eyes were definitely inherited from the black family."

"Last was Narcissa Black Malfoy, the instigator of the "tea" and the person with more questions than answers. She wanted something that only could be obtained from the group of people who had gathered that afternoon. When she had invited Andromeda to visit with her it was almost like she was orchestrating the outcome in her favor. Narcissa wanted all of the remaining blacks because she needed information. She was playing it close to the vest, but as a Slytherin both he and Draco had more questions as to her motive than the others. What was it that she wanted? How long would she groom the relationships before they realized they had been drawn in to her web like a fly to a spider? This should be entertaining at the least."

"The unknown factors were himself and the godmother to Teddy Lupin, Hermione Granger. Where did they fit into the grand scheme? Were they included, though not Blacks, for their unique expertise? Only time would tell."

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy closed the wards on her bedroom suite so that she would be undisturbed by anyone other than the house elves and they knew better than to enter when she closed the wards unless the house was on fire. She went over to her vanity and pulled out the left center drawer, but only an inch. Then she reached under the center portion of the table and felt for the opening. At the bottom was a button flush with the surrounding wood and only those who knew where to look could find it. If she pulled out the drawer too far, it would not unlatch the secret panel. If the drawer was not opened wide enough, it would not only not push, but the drawer would close with a slam pinching fingers in the process. She pressed the button and waited for the nearly silent click of a latch opening. Now she had to be quick and quick she was as she reached for the "privacy skirt" and pressed the lever that had popped out. This opened released a piece of molding in the center top of the mirror and it opened like a drawer. When closed it was invisible because the molding followed the decoration on the trim, but the open drawer was approximately 30 cm long, 5 cm deep and 10 cm tall. It looked like it was only holding a few pieces of jewelry if someone were to find it, but in truth there was a treasure trove below its false bottom. The space was large enough to hide anything Narcissa with its undetectable extension charm. It was also charmed to only respond to her using the _accio_ command.

" _Accio_ Bella's diary," Narcissa commanded. She caught the book mid-air and closed the drawer in one swift movement. When it snapped shut, so did the drawer below.

" _October 31, 1980. There is a book in the Black Library in Aunt Walburga's townhouse. I need to retrieve it now that Sirius is in prison and Reggie is dead. The book mentions a treasure that I feel would be a real help to the Dark Lord now that he is in hiding. I may not have time with the Longbottom situation and Barty's loud mouth."_

Narcissa mused over the last entry from the book. She had found it when Bellatrix had been arrested for using the _crucio_ to the point that Frank and Alice were blithering. Narcissa, as next of kin had been given all of Bellateix's belongings as she would not need them in Azkaban. She had put them in the guest room where Bella always stayed, but kept the diary. Bella never seemed to miss it and now she was dead as well.


	3. Other Puzzle Pieces

**Disclaimer: I do not own or hope to ever own any of the characters in Harry Potter's world. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I am just letting them have some fun.**

 **Other Puzzle Pieces**

Andromeda Black Tonks was concerned about Narcissa's motives. Andromeda had not been sorted Slytherin for nothing, even though she married a half-blood Hufflepuff with muggle leanings. Her mind wandered to the pleasant years spent with Ted and the trying years with Nymphadora. She shook her head and corrected herself as her daughter was wont to do, Tonks. _"No, she could not bring herself to call her beautiful, funny daughter by her last name. She was Dora Lupin to her."_ Ted had been a television reporter when she had first married him. They eloped to Gretna Green straight from finishing school at Hogwarts. He had already been hired and they were giddy teens high on adrenalin. The first few years had been hard, but when he had been promoted from reporter to news presenter near the end of the First Wizard War things became much easier.

Andromeda remembered why she had come upstairs to her bedroom, the one she had shared with Ted Tonks. She shook herself away from that reverie again. Crossing over to her night stand, she pushed it about a foot away from the bed. There she pulled up a floor board and retrieved a box. Their father had told all three girls not to disparage all things muggle. The cleverness sometimes was better than magic for hiding things and with combined with magic was often defeating to wizard (or witch) and muggle alike. This floor board was a muggle hiding place, but the box that had been hidden in it was definitely magic. It looked similar to the puzzle boxes from the Chinese and the Pacific Islands, but you needed magic to open it. The box had originally been a wooden puzzle box from the Philippines, but she had charmed it and endowed it with numerous enchantments that only allowed her and her blood descendants to open it. She pricked her finger and pressed it to the lock.

The lid was free to open and she removed the upper center tray then pulled up one of the wooden panels that made the partition between the center portion and the two side portions on the left. (There was a similar divider on the right, but the top portion on that side was divided into thirds.) She reached under the divider and pulled out a thin packet of letters. Rifling through she pulled out one then returned the packet to the hidden compartment. The box closed with a snap. She carelessly stuffed the letter into her bra and murmured about skirts without pockets. Deep in thought Andromeda traced the intricate inlay of the multicoloured woods in the top of the box. Ted had brought it back from a filming trip he had been on while she was pregnant with Nymphadora and could not travel with him. It was a cherished gift. Carefully she placed it back beneath the floor boards, sliding it back to hide it and then returned the covering board. The nightstand was returned to its correct position before Andromeda went back downstairs.

Andromeda opened the yellowed parchment of the letter. It was the last one from her father before he had passed away. Her mother never corresponded with her once she had married Ted. Andromeda wiped a tear from the corner of her eye with a crisp white handkerchief. She stared at the handmade lace that filled one corner and had the ABT of her monogram worked into the lace and surrounded by forget-me-nots.

The poem on the parchment had long been a puzzle. Her father had written that it was a very old prophecy and even he could not remember when it started being handed down to the second child born of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. That is why she had it. Her father had been the second and she had been the second. He said that it didn't matter whether the second was a witch or a warlock, it needed to be protected in a way that the heir could not. Well that was right. Sirius and Regulus were both dead.

She looked at the old script in blue-black ink on the cracking parchment, then holding it carefully she read:

 _When the war has ended_

 _And the Black name is no more,_

 _When there are but five,_

 _The muggleborn witch will provide direction_

 _And the potioneer the brew._

 _Each of the five a puzzle piece to own,_

 _Each of the pieces only to share._

 _Each Black remaining will have to care,_

 _Their talents and cooperation to share,_

 _For the name to ring true, of jealousy beware._

 _One from the dark and one from light_

 _A truce will form and a child's loss and return_

 _Will only come through cooperation._

 _Only the pure of heart will again shine_

 _While the darkest heart in fire consume._

 _Once the puzzle is complete,_

 _The fruits will be shared and multiplied_

 _Only then the strength of the name will rise_

 _From an unexpected place._

 _The House of Black will be renewed_

 _And a named heir and spare return._

At the bottom was a nine pointed star with runes at each point. This was superimposed over a star chart with one point ending on the star Sirius and another on Regulus. Why hadn't she seen this before? Maybe she wasn't looking, or maybe it wasn't visible before.

She shivered and wondered if the child lost and returned would be Teddy.

/

Hermione Granger was a volunteer at the local public library and did the children's story hour every week. She used a mixture of fairy tales and adventure stories. Just as long as there were pretty picture the children were happy. She had just figured out how to make the stories from _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ into muggle fairy tales. She was carefully copying the illustrations with coloured markers onto poster board. On the back fly-leaf someone had drawn a nine pointed star superimposed over a chart of the night sky. She shook her head. No, she didn't remember seeing that before.


	4. There Is a Piece Missing

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. Thank you J.K.R. for allowing them to come out and play.**

 **Note: Jade, this is thanks for the review-I am dedicating this chapter to you. You are my fiercest critic and first audience.**

 **There Is a Piece Missing**

"Harry, are you home?" Draco called through the floo at 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Yes, Draco." Harry called back. Taking a cup of tea he sat on the floor near the fireplace. "What do you need?"

"I received a cryptic owl and want to know what you think," the blonde wizard replied. "May I come through?"

"Certainly," Harry replied standing and moving toward the table. "Is this a professional visit or a personal one?"

"A little of both." Draco stated as they settled across from one another facing the teapot and tray of biscuits. "I need your professional opinion as an Auror, but also as a member of the family."

Harry poured the tea into another cup and pushed it toward his former classmate. He gestured toward the sugar, cream and lemon, "Help yourself. The biscuits are almond shortbread. They are quite tasty if I do say so myself."

Draco eschewed the condiments, but took a sweet and bit into it. "Nice, where did you find these?" he asked holding the cookie up in his hand.

"Baked them myself," Harry answered matter-of-factly. "I did a lot of cooking before I started at Hogwarts. At least I learned something practical from the so-called family I lived with. I won't starve if left to my own wits."

"So, you shared the cooking chores with Hermione when you were on the run?" Draco stated.

Harry chuckled, "She was a little better than Ron who was useless. But then what can you do with mushrooms, tree roots and the odd fish? Once in a while we would come across a chicken house and have eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner before we moved on." Harry sat back and sipped his tea. "So what do you need?"

"Always straight forward are you?" Draco also took a drag on his drink and then bit the biscuit and chewed it thoughtfully. "I think there is something going on between my mother and her sister that they are hiding from us. I do know that separately they asked me if I would request access to the Black Family Library here. I don't know what book they are looking for, or if they are even looking for the same one. Both are quite secretive when they want to be it. Mother I can understand. Why Andromeda would approach me seems strange. I thought you were closer to her."

"I really don't know a lot about the library," Harry answered thoughtfully. "Hermione and Sirius spent a lot of time together after fourth year in the parlor and library, but they also were looking for something in some other books. Ron and I didn't pay much attention because we were too busy avoiding the work Molly had for us."

"Trying to keep you busy and out of trouble," Draco smirked. "I would avoid that, too."

"Why don't we ask …"

The two were interrupted by a Lynx patronus. "Harry, we need you at work. I know it's late, but there is a missing baby."

"Kingsley?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Harry answered. "I have to go. Can you show yourself out after you look at the library? I am closing the floo and setting the wards on the front door. There is a shed in back where you can apparate from, but you won't be able to reenter until I am back. It keeps the riffraff from partying to hard while I am out."

Once Harry had left Draco went up to the parlor and through to the library. " _Where to start?"_ Draco walked around the desk and comfortable chairs toward the shelves. He could see Hermione's touch on the organization. " _It looks like a freakin' library."_ He noticed that she had it organized with muggle picture books and wizarding children's books near the bottom where the children could easily reach them. The next few shelves around the room were muggle literature, science, history, and art books. Just about eye-level for Draco began the shelves of school texts and references associated with them. Next came more Wizarding law and history books, books on astronomy and ancient runes, books they would not have needed in school, but interesting none-the-less. Above all these and only reachable by a movable library ladder were locked barrister cases with what seemed to be rare and dark arts books. These were quite protected, but seemed to be incomplete because there were gaps where a topic reached a certain point, but abruptly had no more information. _"I wonder if Harry knows about the missing books,"_ Draco mused. He would have to save that question for another day. He picked up his cup from the desk and took it back to the kitchen where he was greeted by Kreacher.

"Master Draco," the aged house elf greeted him. "Can Kreacher get you anything?"

"No, thank you," he responded. "I will show myself out. Please tell Potter that I would like to return and look at the library in more depth at a more hospitable hour."

"I will tell Master Harry," Kreacher answered. He watched as Draco went out the rear door and walked to the shed from whence he apparated. Kreacher then locked the door with a snap of his fingers and then put the tea cup into the sink with the half-full one Harry had abandoned.

/

"Minister, you needed me?" Harry asked as he stepped through the floo in the office of the Minister of Magic's office that had been opened for him when Harry was summoned.

"Andromeda Tonks contacted me," the dark skinned wizard stated. He looked every bit an African King, regal and exotic in his bright robes. "She said she had laid Teddy Lupin down for the night and went into the kitchen for a cup of tea when she heard the wards alarm then wane. She went to check on Teddy and he was not in his crib."

"That is strange reaction for the wards," Harry commented. "Have you heard of this happening before? They should keep anyone not keyed in out."

"Years ago, during the first war, there was a case where a family member who was many generations removed had just enough family magic to allow them into a large estate where they stole several artifacts and murdered the patriarch." Kingsley Shacklebolt reminisced. "By the time they caught up with her, she had sold everything in Knockturn Alley and bought her way into the outer ring of the Death Eaters, just a step above the snatchers." He thought for a moment longer, then asked, "Who is living that is related to Andromeda beyond the obvious?"

"Narcissa and Draco Malfoy are obvious, as am I, but shouldn't I be removed from this case because of conflict of interest?"

"You wouldn't stay away if I removed you, would you?" Kingsley asked. "No, I thought not," he answered his own question.

"If you go back far enough in the family tree, everyone except the Parkinsons and Greengrasses are related to the Blacks," Harry chuckled remembering Bulstrodes, Flints, Yaxleys and Rosiers to name a few.

"Do you think I might take a gander at the tapestry?" asked the Minister. He remembered seeing it in the house when it was the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. "Who knows where we will get a lead. There certainly aren't any in the Tonks house."


End file.
